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Link to story.

Basically, a woman hires a contractor to remodel her old home. The contractor tears down one of the walls and finds $182,000. The money was hidden there by the man who owned the home during the great depression.

The home owner claims that it is her money because when she bought the home, she bought everything.

The contractor claims that he is entitled to a share.

The estate of the original owner claimed that they are entitled to the money.

So who do you think should get the money?

I read this one. I think the money should belong to the homeowner. I think the contractor was off his nut to expect 40% of it. He should have been happy that the homeowner offered 10%. It's her house, and her walls; he was just hired to tear down the wall, he doesn't get rights to whatever's in them. I also don't think the original owner's heirs have a right to it either. I agree with the statement that when the homeowner bought the home, she bought everything.

The contractor shouldn't get a cent. He only wants it because it's money. If it were anything else - a locket, a newspaper, a plumbing problem, a termite infestation, a dead body, he wouldn't try to claim any ownership of that. It would be left to the homeowners. He's already being compensated for his job.

I suppose you could make a case that it belongs to the original owner. But he left the money there, didn't remove it, and didn't bequeath it to his heirs. It was sold, along with the rest of the house, to the current owners, who took on all the issues of the house, positive as well as negative. Perhaps if it were an item, again like a locket, with sentimental value, the current owners might want to give it to the heirs, but it would still be theirs to give. And money doesn't have sentimental value.

The homeowner owns the money. I read that the contractor complains that business has gone down since the matter became public, I think it's his own fault: who'd want to hire a contractor who feel entitled to a part on whatever he found in your home?

It's mine! I knew I left it somewhere.

talula wrote:It's mine! I knew I left it somewhere.

Yep, it is talula's. And she's going to use some of it to finance a huge WD NYC bash with round-trip tickets and *everything*!!

(homeowner - and the contractor is being a weenie. And a dumb weenie at that.)

The homeowner should get all of it. I don't understand why the contractor feels he's entitled to any of it. A contractor isn't entitled to anything he finds in the home he's renovating. Greedy dumbass.

Setting aside the morality of the story, if this were subject to British law (I'm aware it is an American case) the the purchaser owns everything on and in the property unless specifically excluded by statute or sale contract providing said goods were legally owned.